My thoughts on the Phillies season.

A mistake-ridden eighth inning ruins Halladay’s good performance as the Phils lose the pitchers’ duel to the Marlins, 2-1.

Errors in the Marlins’ eighth lead to the Phils losing the pitchers’ duel, 2-1.

The Phils took the lead in the second as Ryan Howard hits a lead-off home run, his eighth home run of the year, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. After turning back a pair of bases loaded threats by the Phils in the second and third innings, the Marlins tied the game up at one-all in the third as, with two men on, and with one man out, Emilio Bonifacio hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Josh Johnson, who had earlier walked, then went to third on Chris Coghlan’s double, while Coghlan, who had just doubled, would move up to third. The game would then become a pitchers’ duel between Johnson, who would pitch six innings, only giving up one run on six hits and three walks, while striking out seven, as he would pitch himself out of trouble early in the game, and Phils’ starter Roy Halladay, who in the first seven innings, would also give up just a run, on three hits and two walks, while striking out eight. The Marlins then took the lead in the eight as Omar Infante would reach base on a Jimmy Rollins throwing error, before moving up to second base on a Halladay wild pitch. Infante would then move up to third on a ground out, 4-3, by pinch hitter Osvaldo Martinez. Coghlan then followed with an RBI single, scoring Infante and giving the Marlins a 2-1 lead. That would be the final score as Leo Nunez collected his twelfth save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth, getting Shane Victorino to ground out, 3-1, to end the game.

Roy Halladay (5-2, 2.05) took the lost as he gave up two run, only one of which was earned, on five hits and two walks, while striking out nine. Josh Johnson received a no-decision, as he went six innings, giving up a run on six hits and three walks, while striking out seven. Michael Dunn (3-2, 1.26) gets the win as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Leo Nunez recorded his twelfth save of the year as he pitched a scoreless inning, walking a batter, while striking out one.

The Phils had just six hits with Raul Ibanez leading the team with two hits, a single and a double, as he raised his batting average to .231. Jimmy Rollins (Single), Shane Victorino (Single), Ryan Howard (Home Run, RBI) and Ben Francisco (Single), had the other four Phils’ hits, as the offense was not able to get the key hit when they had Josh Johnson on the ropes in the early going.

The Phils (23-12, 1st) will conclude their three-game set with the Marlins (21-14, 2nd) with a night game at Sun Life Stadium. The game will begin at 7:10 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Cliff Lee (2-3, 3.69), who is coming off a lost against the Braves on May 6, as he pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk, while striking out sixteen in the Phils’ 5-0 lost. He will once again try for his third win of the season, while hoping that the offense will decide to help him this time. The Marlins will counter with Ricky Nolasco (3-0, 3.23), who is coming off a no-decision against the Nats on May 6, as he went seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out eleven, in the Marlins’ 3-2 lost. He will be trying to give the Marlins the series win. The Phils will be trying to put the fish once again three games behind them in the East.

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